


A Hogwarts Christmas wish

by skriftlig



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-08-07
Updated: 2011-08-07
Packaged: 2017-10-22 08:04:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/235919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skriftlig/pseuds/skriftlig
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Christmas dinner in Harry's 'eighth year' honours the students lost in the war with the gift of a wish.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Hogwarts Christmas wish

What felt like hours (and far too many pounds) later, the house-elves' Christmas desserts stopped coming and Harry sat back in his seat at Gryffindor table. Hermione had stopped eating a while ago and was looking faintly disgusted at her boyfriend, who was helping himself to his fourth portion of Christmas pudding. The chatter died down in the Great Hall and Harry looked toward the teachers' table to see McGonagall standing to address them.

“Students and staff,” she turned briefly to acknowledge the staff at the table behind her, “I am delighted that so many of you chose to stay with us at Hogwarts this Christmas. For most of us, this has been the most difficult year of our lives, but I want to remind each of you that we are the lucky ones.”

She paused and looked out at the sea of students in front of her. “There should be more of you here today-” she began, but her voice wavered with emotion and she stopped.

Harry looked over to where George sat a few seats along. Angelina had put her arm around him. He saw Harry and nodded briefly, before looking back to McGonagall. Harry turned his head to do the same and caught sight of the Slytherin table, where Malfoy had his arm around Goyle. Harry felt a shameful flare of jealousy until he remembered what had happened in the Room of Requirement.

“I want to take this moment to remind each of you here today to count your blessings,” McGonagall continued in a steadier voice. “Please take a minute to think about those things for which you are grateful and cherish the chance you've been given that so many others haven't.”

She lowered her head and the every occupant in the Great Hall copied her. Harry's first thoughts were of those that had died, but he remembered McGonagall's words: cherish the chance you've been given. And he had been given a second chance to live, he knew. Every single one of them in the room had. He was most grateful for Ron and Hermione surviving the war, but also for Ginny, George and Neville who sat at the table with him and most of the DA scattered across three tables in the Great Hall. He was even grateful that the Slytherins had made it through and his thoughts went, as they so often did since his return to Hogwarts, to one particular Slytherin.

Harry remembered back to when Dumbledore spoke about Cedric's death and Malfoy had raised his goblet and laughed. Looking at him now, his behaviour couldn't be more different. He was whispering into Goyle's ear as the larger boy shook beneath his arm. As Harry watched, Malfoy's head snapped up and his eyes bore straight into Harry's. His gaze was ferocious, as everything always was with Malfoy, but this time there was no malice in it. He looked determined and desperate at the same time and Harry felt a sudden urge to comfort him. He was just about to completely lose his mind and mouth it will be okay across the hall when the lights went out.

He looked toward McGonagall, who was holding a candle at the front of the hall that illuminated the tired lines on her proud face.

“To each of those we lost, we light a wishing candle in your memory.”

Long white candles appeared dotted along the tables as she spoke. They hovered at head height and their silvery-white flames swayed, unfaltering and gentle in the air. The Slytherin table shone brightest and Harry glimpsed blond hair glittering in the candlelight. There was one solitary candle floating over the teacher's table.

“I invite every one of you to make a wish,” McGonagall continued. “The candles will go out when they have granted one.”

Small whispers broke out around the Hall and Harry heard Hermione's faint gasp. He waited for her explanation.

“This is old magic,” she whispered. “Humans aren't supposed to be able to make wishing candles. I didn't know they really existed.”

“Then who made them?” Ron asked.

Hermione shook her head. “I don't know.”

Harry expected words like library, Hogwarts and History to follow, but it seemed Hermione was too awestruck to think about studying.

“And the wishing candles grant our wishes?” asked Harry, feeling a little stupid.

“They have the power to grant our single deepest, most desired wish,” Hermione answered.

Harry sat back and thought about what to wish for. Slowly, the candles started to go out, one by one across the hall, as if Ron were clicking a Deluminator. Still unsure about his wish, Harry looked instinctively at his best friends. Ron had his eyes shut but, between the forgotten Christmas pudding and goblets of pumpkin juice, his hand was covering Hermione's protectively on the table. Suddenly Harry knew what he wanted.

Someone special, he thought.

 

\+ + +

 

Harry blinked. He was standing in one of the castle's towers and judging by the expansive view of the grounds, he was in the Astronomy Tower. He supposed this meant one of the candles had chosen to grant his wish, but he wasn't sure why he ended up here. He'd wished for someone special, hadn't he? Did the candle think he meant reliving the last moments of somebody special?

He looked around him and saw Draco Malfoy leaning against one of the telescopes.

“What are you doing here?” Harry blurted out.

“Same as you, I imagine,” Malfoy drawled.

They stood there in silence for a few minutes, neither wanting to approach the reason they were standing here with the other.

Again, McGonagall's words echoed in Harry's head: cherish the chance you've been given. This was undoubtedly the best chance he'd had to be alone with Malfoy all year. His pathetic attempts to stall him after lessons always ended with one of their friends dragging them away from each other and his nerve never lasted long enough in the Quidditch changing rooms to wait for Malfoy to return from practice. But Harry was pretty sure the candles would only grant wishes if both people wanted the same thing. Bolstered by this thought, he suddenly felt more positive about Malfoy reciprocating his feelings than he had in months.

He took a few steps closed to Malfoy as the other boy watched him anxiously.

“What did you wish for?” Harry asked.

“Obviously I wished to be transported to the Astronomy Tower with the world's biggest idiot,” Malfoy answered dryly.

Harry rolled his eyes. Of course Malfoy would make this difficult. But Harry was determined to try. He bit down on his embarrassment and coughed.

“Look Malfoy, I'm not very good at stuff like this, so I'm just going to say it.”

There was an awkward pause. Malfoy looked at him curiously as Harry desperately sought the words to say what he felt. He could feel his cheeks reddening even in the cool evening air.

“I-think-we-should-go-out,” he said in a rush.

To Harry's dismay, Malfoy just snorted and crossed his arms haughtily.

“Typical! Have you even considered what you're saying, Potter? Firstly, how do you know I even like guys? You have no idea what-”

“Do you?” Harry interrupted. “Like guys, I mean.”

Malfoy looked at him reproachfully.

“Yes. But that's not the point. The point is, it is so typical of you to just think you can have anything you want just because you're Harry Potter and...”

But Harry wasn't listening. He didn't realise he'd been holding his breath until Malfoy had admitted he was gay.

“Secondly,” Malfoy was saying, “you just assume that I want to go out with you. You've never even asked-”

“Do you?” Harry cut in again.

“Are you capable of saying anything else, Potter, other than idiotic one syllable questions?” Malfoy said irritably as a slight flush crept up his pale cheeks.

But Harry ignored him. “Do you like me?” he croaked, his mouth suddenly very dry.

“Yes,” Malfoy said reluctantly. He looked defiantly at Harry, albeit a bit embarrassed and, although Harry would never admit it, it was one of the best things he'd ever seen. Until Malfoy opened his mouth and ruined it.

“Thirdly, I knew you'd have stupid, Gryffindor ideas like 'I think we should go out'.” He pushed himself off of the telescope and stood a few inches taller than Harry. He carried on bitterly. “It's not as simple as that. Not with me. No-one will accept a Death Eater dating the world's hero.”

“Ex-Death Eater.” Harry corrected.

Malfoy huffed. “Fine, ex-Death Eater. But you get the point.”

He stalked to the parapet and stared out over the grounds below. Harry noticed he didn't make any effort to leave the tower.

After a few moments, Harry followed him. He deliberately stood too close for Malfoy to ignore him. A gust of wind blew around them, lifting Harry's hair about his face and wrapping Malfoy's tie over his shoulder. Harry leant across and smoothed it back in place along his chest.

“I don't care what anybody thinks. I'm not bothered about pleasing anybody else any more.”

Malfoy said nothing. Harry moved closer until he rested his forehead on the side of Malfoy's head. His lips ghosted over Malfoy's throat and he felt Malfoy's jaw tense.

“I wished for someone special,” Harry whispered and he felt Malfoy swallow against his lips. “And I think you did the same.”

With a determined groan, Malfoy twisted his body away from the parapet and away from Harry.

“Potter, I don't deserve-” Malfoy began, but Harry cut him off, frustrated.

“Shut up, Malfoy. One of the candles chose to grant your wish, so obviously you do deserve it.”

Unreadable emotions flitted across Malfoy's face. Harry walked toward him again, until Malfoy had backed into another telescope and Harry pinned him there. He brought his face nearer to Malfoy's until a hand shot up to his chest and held him away.

“I don't deserve you,” Malfoy said finally. “The things that I did, I should have..” he trailed off, looking anywhere but Harry.

And suddenly Harry realised why they'd been brought here. Why they were standing alone in the Astronomy Tower and what he had to do. How was it possible that Malfoy didn't know? Had no-one thought to tell him? Anger bubbled inside of him at the realisation.

“I know what you did, Malfoy.” Harry spoke quietly, making sure he had the other boy's attention. “I was here that night. When Dumbledore died, I was here in this tower, with you and the Death Eaters and Snape.”

Malfoy turned his head away at the memory, but Harry grabbed his sharp chin, forcing grey eyes on his.

“He planned the whole thing, he planned for Snape to kill him instead of you. He was already dying, Malfoy. He was cursed from one of the Horcruxes and he was going to die. It wasn't your fault. Dumbledore knew it wasn't your fault. I know it wasn't your fault.”

Malfoy's face registered shock and the hand that had been on Harry's chest fell limply to his side.

Harry inched closer for the third time, until he could feel Malfoy's warm breath on his face and see clearly the curve of his lips. He wrapped his arms around Malfoy's slim waist and felt Malfoy's arms snake around his torso.

Tilting his head slightly, he brushed Malfoy's nose with his own. He closed his eyes and felt Malfoy's eyelashes flicker shut in response against his cheek.

“Wait, Potter,” Malfoy breathed, apparently determined to bring up every possible reason why Harry shouldn't kiss him. “I wished for you, that's why you're here. You wished for someone special. That could be anyone.”

Harry smiled and, as he finally brought their mouths into contact, he murmured against Malfoy's lips, “It's always been you.”


End file.
